No apologies (i never thought you'd be so easily deceived)
by ibuzoo
Summary: Hermione Granger falls in love with Tom Marvolo Riddle because he talks like velvet and laughs like little shards of broken glass - jarring, cutting, leaving whitish scars with blood crusts under the thin layer of pinkish skin. Hermione Granger falls in love with Tom Marvolo Riddle. But none of these things tell the truth.


**No apologies (i never thought you'd be so easily deceived)**

**Prompt: **Mystery

**Rating: **M

**Warnings:** Modern AU / Organised Crime AU / mention of blood and death

**Word count: **1339

**A/N: **I have to admit I didn't had a plan for this prompt, I just started to write down what came to my mind and then kinda added bits or rearranged bits until the story fitted. I'm still glad how this turned out and I hope you'll like it too.

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><p><strong>o.<strong>

Hermione Granger falls in love with Tom Marvolo Riddle because he talks like velvet and laughs like little shards of broken glass - jarring, cutting, leaving whitish scars with blood crusts under the thin layer of pinkish skin.

Hermione Granger falls in love with Tom Marvolo Riddle because he's a mystery, he's the sea and she's drowning, gasping for every breathe while her lungs fill with saltwater, corrode her respiratory tracts one by one until she sinks deeper, descends into Mariana's Trench.

Hermione Granger falls in love with Tom Marvolo Riddle.

But none of these things tell the truth.

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><p><strong>i.<strong>

They lie in tangled sheets, her naked feet dangling over his stomach and Tom puffs blueish white smoke between his lips while Hermione watches amazed how fumes curl themselves around each other, transform into billows on the ceiling. The room is stuffy, fuggy and she fixates her gaze on Tom's lips, traces the outline of his chapped mouth with her eyes until she remembers the news article she read that morning in the Guardian, sees the headline in her mind bright and clear so she asks, voice playful and coltish, "Did you read the article about the homicide in central London this morning? Someone shot him in the head, right between the eyes."

He hums under his breath, almost amused until he starts to rub circles in Hermione's ankle, presses his thumb under her sole at a sore spot and she moans, bites her lips before Tom tugs her foot until she sits on his abs, both legs right and left of his sides and he puts the cigarette out on a nearby ashtray, pushes both his hands to the inside of her thighs.

She forgets everything else in her mind as soon as he pushes her legs apart.

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><p><strong>ii.<strong>

For years the taste of honey lingers in her mouth, succulent and lush while the sweetness covers her teeth, lies like a blanket on her tongue but as soon as Tom kisses her it changes.

_(it transforms)_

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><p><strong>iii.<strong>

She waits in the car as Tom insisted before he left it with arms full of folders and construction plans that look a lot like a bank or something but she didn't say a word, smiles instead at the man that opens the door to let her boyfriend in, looks at his big brown eyes that swear he'd never harm a fly but Hermione knows better, Hermione knows them all.

She takes the coffee to go cup in her hand, drinks, rests silent while she observes Avery's muscles contract under the hem of his grey polo-shirt as soon as Tom enters the building. He's nervous but Hermione blanks it out, lets Tom deal with it while she looks out the window and spots his white Chevrolet Camaro in the driveway. There's a bump in the aerofoil, midsize while the varnish comes off in an ugly matter with scratches and dark red crusts in the metal - it reminds her of the traffic news she listened to some minutes ago, the ones who talked about a tremendous hit and run accident where the victim died on the spot without a chance to be saved.

She waits until Tom returns a bit later without anything in his hands anymore and she challenges while she takes little draughts of her coffee, "I can suggest some good garages if Avery needs one." Tom's eyes flicker for a moment with something dangerous, something fatal but then he leans over and kisses her, hard and hasty and biting and brutal.

She doesn't say a word after that.

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><p><strong>iv.<strong>

_(her hair is disordered and the honey is lucius and covers her throat like a syrup, thick and heavy while her tongue tastes something bitter, licks at the corners of Tom's mouth)_

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><p><strong>v.<strong>

There's a picture of a girl in the Times the next week; she's blonde and beautiful, big blue eyes which look far too dreamy for this world, glossy paint lips with strawberry earrings on both sides while the headline reads in bold letters 'Missing'.

She's dead certain that she saw the Lovegood girl before, some day ago and her mind reminds her that she saw her with Antonin, just a split of a second.

She doesn't ask Tom that night.

_(she doesn't really care about it either)_

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><p><strong>vi.<strong>

Time is slow when Tom is around her and each kiss feels as if he's trying to burn the scent of honey out of her mouth, shovel it until nothing remains than the copper bitter taste of his lips.

_(each time it stings, each time it harrows her - but she welcomes the torture again and again)_

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><p><strong>vii.<strong>

Her slender fingers tug at the sewn lace at the end of her white bubble pleated skirt while she watches the masses of people outside of the car rushing past each other, faceless people on the run, nameless, dispensable.

It takes some time until Rosier enters the car by the driver's side, sits down in the leather cushion and hands her a small delicate casket, dark mahogany with golden ornaments winding around the key lock - Baroque she'd guess. A curious glance inside reveals a gracious elegant necklace existing of nothing besides plain white diamonds that refract the bright sunlight in different kinds of colours - alizarin crimson, atomic tangerine, chartreuse and fandango. The radio news talk about a vicious robbery with lethal consequences for the couple and Hermione leans forward, changes the channel until a song of Ke$ha drums through the car.

She leans back and looks out of the window.

_(that night she wears the necklace on her naked skin, watches amazed when the moonlight shines bright and blue on the diamonds, refracts in celeste, Persian green, periwinkle, indigo and Tom's eyes darken wolfish, lecherous when he draws closer)_

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><p><strong>viii.<strong>

Tom touches the nape of her neck with icy fingers and she feels her skin freezing under the touch, gasps as soon as his lips capture her own and she sucks on his lips, bites down until the copper taste of blood floods her mouth, washes the honey away.

_(it tastes like acid but she can't stop, drinks and drinks and drinks)_

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><p><strong>ix.<strong>

Tom places his bishop to E6 and Hermione watches the board, observes his eyes and lips that twitch just the slightest each time her hand brushes one of her pawns.

It's easy to sacrifice a pawn in a game, she thinks and licks her lips until they're glistening thick and luscious like cherry juice, like strawberry jam, like honey while the reporter in the television talks about how cyber terrorists hacked in a bank and killed three guardsman, heisted around a million pounds and she takes her rook, thinks, but it's better to know how to sacrifice nothing at all.

"Seems like Mulciber and the others were quite busy yesterday," her voice is lambent, challenging and Tom smirks, leans forward to kiss her over the play board, nibbles at her underlip until she tastes the particular stinging taste of blood on her tongue again.

He doesn't need to answer, she knows.

She knows.

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><p><strong>x.<strong>

Hermione Granger falls in love with Tom Marvolo Riddle because he talks like velvet and laughs like little shards of broken glass - jarring, cutting, leaving whitish scars with blood crusts under the thin layer of pinkish skin.

Hermione Granger falls in love with Tom Marvolo Riddle because he's a mystery, he's the sea and she's drowning, gasping for every breathe while her lungs fill with saltwater, corrode her respiratory tracts one by one until she sinks deeper, descends into Mariana's Trench.

Hermione Granger falls in love with Tom Marvolo Riddle.

But none of these things tell the truth.

Hermione Granger falls in love with Tom Marvolo Riddle because Tom is Death and Hermione is Persephone and she kisses his lips like a promise, like a vow for eternity while she licks succulent bloody pomegranate juice from his pale chapped lips.

There's no honey in the back of her mind anymore.

_(there never was)_


End file.
